The refs call an offsides penalty on Alabama, essentially ending the game during the second half of the Alabama vs UTAM NCAA football game, Saturday, November 10, 2012, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- During
his radio show Thursday, Alabama coach Nick Saban urged fans to cheer extra loud while
Texas A&M had the ball because of the Aggies’ ability to draw
opponents offsides with a deadly hard count.

Opponents,
Saban said, were falling for it on an average of four times per game.
When Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin was at Houston, one team fell for
it on 11 occasions.

On Saturday, Alabama
was suckered into jumping just once.

The only problem was that it occurred on the game’s
penultimate play and ultimately prevented the Crimson Tide from getting
one last shot at a comeback victory.

Freshman
linebacker Tyler Hayes was the guilty party on fourth-and-1 at the
Aggies’ 13-yard line with 40 seconds to play. The penalty resulted in a
first down and allowed the Aggies to take one kneel-down to end the game
because Alabama was out of timeouts.

It was Alabama's sixth and final penalty of the game.

There were no guarantees Alabama would be able to do anything with one more chance, but the mistake never afforded the opportunity.

“We
certainly expected a situation like that,” Saban said. “Players were
told to make sure you stay on-sides, they’re going to try to get you to
jump offsides with a shift, motion or something.”